Merrick County, Nebraska is a rural county located in the midwestern United States. It is home to many small towns and communities that are all centered around the county seat of Central City. The county has a strong agricultural presence and is known for its farming and ranching economy. Politically, Merrick County is a solidly conservative area with most registered voters being registered Republicans. This has been reflected in local political offices as most countywide offices have been held by Republicans since the 1960s. The Republican Party also holds firm control over state legislative seats in the county. There have been few challenges from within the Democratic party in recent years and local elections often go uncontested as candidates rarely face opposition from other political parties. While Merrick County may appear to be a one-party stronghold, there are still debates among residents on issues ranging from taxes to gun rights.
The political climate in Merrick County, NE is very conservative.
In Merrick County, NE 17.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 79.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.8% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Merrick county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 79.8% to 17.4%.
Merrick county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Merrick County, NE is very conservative.
Grand Island Metro Area is very conservative.
Nebraska is moderately conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Merrick, Nebraska: R R R R R R
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D for the Democrat and I for the Independent. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Merrick County, NE
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 348 contributions totaling $73,512 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $211 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 138 contributions totaling $15,991 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $116 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)